The Smash Games
by MariaMagi
Summary: In the country of the Subspace Empire, where poverty is the populace and violence is king, the barbaric tournament known as the Smash Games is an annual occurrence. When Link volunteers for his brother, a new chronicle will be written. ZeLink. AU. CURRENTLY ON AN EXTENDED HIATUS! Sorry everyone.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Reaping

I wake up and search for Yuuki's warmth. It only makes sense he isn't any longer by my side. He must have awoken in the middle of the night and joined our father, Rusl. And that in turn makes sense. Yuuki only ever leaves me when he has a nightmare. And today is the day of the Reaping. I get up and see that Piggy is sitting at the foot of the bed, glaring at me. We had never gotten along, even from the start. Yuuki had brought him home, and I was less than pleased. A pig is only good if it can be slaughtered for meat. They can't be milked and they don't lay eggs. And it's skinny as a rail, a perfectly useless pet. But Yuuki loves him so much that we have to keep him. I tried to kill him once, via target practice, but he ran off into the woods surrounding our small village, and my little brother begged me to get him back. Ever since then, he's squealed angrily at me whenever he passes by me, except rare moments like this when Yuuki is asleep.

Sometimes I'll feed him the berries and mushrooms I find in the woods. Occasionally I'll even find a truffle or two. I let him eat little bits of those as I slice them into bits for our dinner. On those nights, he only snorts with begrudging gratitude.

Snorting. Corners of plants. This is probably the closest we'll ever come to love.

Yuuki, on the other hand, I would gladly give all of my findings to for his well-being. I would never take him anywhere dangerous. If I could, I would never even let my little brother out of my sight.

But naturally things like that never work out.

I turn, sitting up again, and slide into my boots. Frankly, I love these boots. My mother made them for my father one day. I tear up a little, thinking about her. But that's not what I should worry about right now.

I finish getting dressed, and walk down the stairs, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror. A strong, toned-but-not-filled-in body. A few bones visible. My pointed ears remaining perked up to sense for noise. Father always jokingly said I look more like a woman every day. But that's far from the truth, Yuuki always tells me. And father hasn't told a joke since mother passed on.

I leave the house and see the tiny chicken Yuuki keeps. Her name is Miss Priss. I found her in the market, with her feet being eaten up by fire ants. I picked her up and swatted away the ants. Father had to amputate one of her feet, but she hobbles around just fine on one foot. And what do you know? The dear little hen was expecting. We now have five half-grown hens and roosters strutting about our yard.

I softly walk into the woods in the morning sunlight. There's a brick wall surrounding our village, put into place to keep us inside, under the jurisdiction. But of course that doesn't keep many of us truly out. I look for my usual exiting place, a place where vines grow up over the wall. I clamber over and manage to scrape my hand. Whatever. I enter the forest and look around. I see the hollow where I keep my wooden sword and bow have been disturbed. I look further in and see that they are still there. I quickly remove them and start moving as fast as I can. Today is the worst day ever to be caught poaching. Then Yuuki would be doomed. I spot a small squirrel up in one of the trees. I nock an arrow and aim. I'm about to shoot when I hear a girl say, "Well, morning, Lynn!"

The squirrel runs off.

"Dammit, Ghanti, you cost me a kill!" I yell, pretending to throw my bow at her. She just starts laughing. Ghanti is like me. She's been living in our poor, mountained village for as long as she can remember. In this same designation her whole life. But it's not like you can just change designations whenever. You've got thirteen Designations that determine where you live. There's the SSE Designation, the M Designation (which produces luxury goods), the S Designation (which is in charge of weaponry and masonry), the P Designation (they sell electronic wares), all the way down to the Tri Designation. Our humble Designations come together for form the great Subspace Empire. Ruled over by President Tabuu.

Ghanti hates Tabuu and everyone in SSE. And it makes sense why. They get all the good things in life at the push of a button, a snap of a finger. While we have to scrape the coal off our shoes if we want it. While we have to hunt in the woods illegally to scrape by. While we die from starvation and freezing and wild animals and mine explosions. But she never dares voice those opinions outside of these woods, our safe haven.

I suppose I'll explain "Lynne". My real name is Link, Link Firr. But when Ghanti and I first met, she just gave me her last name, "Andrews", while I told her my full name. She heard "Lynne" and the nickname was sealed.

"In case you were wondering, I checked the hollow earlier. Just keep the sword in your pants leg like I do with my knife." Ghanti suggests, grinning as she throws said knife straight through the heart of a passing rabbit. I growl at her and shoot down a goose flying overhead. Straight through the eye. Just like I'm famous for around the designation. Part of the reason Ghanti hates SSE so much is because every year, each Designation must send two of their younger citizens to compete in the annual Smash Games. It's a fight to the death that only one can survive. Everyone is required to watch. That is the purpose of the Reaping.

It's Yuuki's first year that he will be in the Reaping. I've done everything I can to keep him safe. His name is only entered once and I haven't allowed him to take any rations. He should be fine. Just lay low.

We go back to town with our catches in tow. I go straight to the market and sell my catches to Telma. I am able to hold onto most of my food, though. I go to the mayor's house to sell him the strawberries. But instead of it being the mayor that opens the door, it's his daughter, Ilia. Ilia is wearing a long white dress that goes past her knees. But the thing that frustrates me the most is the pin on her dress- a golden thing with a Loftwing on it. Loftwings haven't been seen since the ancient days, until fairly recently. The SSE decided to bring them back with the intention of spying on rebels during what's now known as the Failed Era. Ghanti glares at her as I take the money. We wish each other best of luck and I walk away with Ghanti. I give her a quick hug and the two of us go our separate ways. "Good luck." I say, nervousness apparent in my voice. She nods back and goes home. "May the odds be ever in your favor." She calls back, joking about our infamous SSE sponsor, named Peach. She wears obnoxious outfits every year and so obviously effects her accent it's hilarious. She says those words every year, but rarely are the odds in anyone's favor. It's either go into the arena and have a quick death away from all you've ever known, or a slow death at home. We've only had one victor after all these years. His name is Ganondorf, and he's a rotten old drunk, liquor soaking up his monthly money ration from SSE like an overly-porous sponge. He lives alone in a village off the road. The only one to ever win.

I go home and help Yuuki get ready. I give him a tight hug and whisper that everything will be all right. It's me and Ghanti that need to worry and even Ilia is at a bigger risk than he is. As the neighbor's daughter, she has no need to sign up for rations, which is why Ghanti looked at her with such contempt. Yuuki's shirt comes untucked in the back. "Better tuck in that tail, little duck." I say, tucking in his shirt. It's an old one of mine, and Father is doing good at half-heartedly stitching it together. The two of us go out into the square. I separate from my dear brother, kissing his forehead softly. "It'll be fine."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise."

We go to our separate areas. I smile at him from a distance. Peach comes out onto the stage, in a flourish of white lace. "Super Smash Games!" She yells, expecting us to cheer. We simply glare and meet her cheery voice with silence, knowing that we can at least show some dignity to the rest of the Empire. She goes on to announce the history of the Smash Games. It was created as a punishment for the rebellion during the Failed Era, in which the thirteen outlying Designations rebelled against SSE. Twelve were put in their place. The thirteenth was bombed into glassy oblivion. They say they used to turn things into diamonds there. But now that they're gone, the only Designation capable of that is the M Designation. Now we dig deep for coal that we can't even use, hunt animals that aren't technically ours. The decree states that every year the remaining twelve Designations must send two young people from their Designation, a boy and a girl, from twelve to eighteen. It's Ghanti's last year and I have two years to go. Yuuki will have to face the Reaping for six whole years. Peach smiles and announces, "We'll do the boys first!" She shuffles over to the glass orb. Inside that orb the name "Link Firr" is written neatly in ink more times than I can count. I close my eyes tight and silently pray.

But it's not Link Firr that she calls out.

"Yuuki Firr!"

Everyone stops talking.

Whenever a twelve-year old is chosen, everyone is upset. They rarely get a fair chance. I feel, at first, too winded to do anything. But then Peach is calling Yuuki up onto the sickening stage and I yell out before I can do anything else, "I volunteer! I volunteer!" I'm jumping up and down and picking up Yuuki to get him away, clinging to him as if someone won't hear me otherwise. But hear me they do and Ghanti comes over, picks Yuuki up out of my arms. The little boy is yelling to me, and I close my ears to him, tears welling up in my eyes. I'm ushered onto the stage and Peach asks my name, so I tell her.

"I'd bet my buttons that was your brother! Don't want him to have all the glory, do you?" I glare at her. She then asks for a round of applause. But instead of clapping, everyone raises their hands, thumbs and forefingers forming a triangle in the air. It's an ancient salute here, and it means "Farewell, our hearts go with you." Most people here don't like me. But everyone loves Yuuki. He's a bright place in such a dark world. They cling to his innocence like the last light of the last day any of us will see. Like a lifeline that could save everyone. I nod a thank you and hold my breath, my heart beating in my chest. Peach strides across the stage and pulls a name out of the girl's bowl. I pray once more that it isn't Ghanti.

But this time my anguish is even worse.

The name she pulls out is Zelda Gaebora.


	2. Chapter 2

No, no. Not her. Anyone but her, even Ghanti.

Not Zelda Gaebora.

She steps forward, and Peach asks for volunteers. No one answers her call. Zelda's hair is caked with flour and other baking materials, so much so that her brunette hair appears blonde. The baker's daughter, who lives a life of luxury compared to Ghanti and I. But the reason I can't even think of going into the games with her is because of the fact that she saved us- me, Yuuki, and father.

It was a few months after our mother died. She was a seamstress and was skilled at mending dresses and had left a stockpile of clothes she had planned to sell on the next market day. But then she decided to go into the woods for reisin for buttons. I followed her a short distance, covering her with my bow. After we covered that distance, she left me to my own devices to hunt.

I was only a few yards away when I heard the scream.

By the time I got back, there was a wolf standing over her. I shot the wolf through the eye, killing it, but it was too late. No one punished us, as she was one of the few people with a license to go into the woods.

We sold the dresses slowly. Father had one month for grieving. But instead of one month it turned into quite some time. It was almost as if he couldn't even see us. I hunted daily to supplement our meager food supply.

But then the worst winter in memory came.

It was hard, really hard, to provide. One day, I went into the market, hoping to sell some old things we no longer needed. Keeping my mother's patchwork, quilted scarf tight around my neck, I was heading home. Just two more days and I could start getting my rations. But we didn't have two more days. I fell down behind the bakery, into the freezing-cold slush, and waited to die. But death didn't come.

I heard a woman screaming and a girl sniffling. The door opened, and the girl- Zelda- saw me.

I flinched. But she threw something towards me- a small loaf of burned but otherwise perfect bread. I picked it up before it got soggy and stuffed it into my shirt. I nodded a thank you and ran home.

Our stomachs were almost full for the first time in ages that night.

We had one more day of starving before I signed up for my rations. I copied my name onto four strips of paper. Next year those same four, along with eight new ones, would be in the giant glass orb on the stage. A single ration could be called on each month with no new danger to yourself. In other words, signing up for a ration for three people would supply you with meager grain, oil, and other amenities all year, monthly. I envy the people that never had to sign up for rations. Those lucky people lived far away from the forest.

People like Zelda.

And how am I expected to pay her back? By killing her? Now that just sounds like the nicest boy on earth, huh?

Oh well, there'll be 24 of us. Maybe the odds might actually be in my favor.

Although they haven't been as of late.

Suddenly I'm aware of Peach saying my name irritably. She tells me to shake hands with Zelda. She gives me a reassuring squeeze when she takes my hand, but it might just be a nervous spasm. Peach then tries to help us with motivation by calling Ganondorf up onto the stage. He's roaring drunk. He tries to hug Peach, then falls of the stage and into a bush. No doubt everyone in the Empire is laughing at that. I calm myself by imagining them falling silent as I yelled, "I volunteer!" She manages to usher the three of us into the nearby car. I've never ridden in a car before. This one is very clean on the inside and very quiet. It's shiny and red on the outside and has a gold shimmer to the paint. I turn around, taking in everything. What may be my last glimpses of the Designation. I see a car filled with people I know.

I wonder what's about to happen to us.

The car parks in front of the City Hall, and we get out. They push us inside and into a plush, velvety room. I only felt velvet a few times, when mother was still alive. It reminds me of her sewing box and the beautiful clothes she made and the tiny patch of velvet on her scarf, and if comforts me a little. The door flies open and it's Yuuki and Rusl. I know this is my time to say goodbye. I hug Yuuki close to me and he whispers, "You have to win."

"I will. For you."

I see himself, reflected in my eyes, which are reflected into his eyes. He looks so small and frail, and our similarities are painfully obvious. But he is so much sweeter, kinder, _likeable_ than me. But he couldn't have the capacity to kill anything, not yet, at least. I turn to father, glaring. "You can't shut down. No matter what. Not like what happened before!"

"I-I won't, I couldn't help it last time-!"

"I don't care. I won't be there. You have to keep Yuuki safe. You have to!" I'm practically screaming now but I don't care, because this is Yuuki's safety, not just mine anymore, and if that boy, my little brother, the only one in this universe that I can say I love, the one I am sacrificing my own life for, were to die, I would never be able to live, much less rest in peace.

But then a guard comes in and is telling us it's time for them to go and we're all hugging and crying and saying good-byes and I love yous and when they leave I feel sad but still as though I somehow made amends for what I said. And then Ghanti comes in, and I hug her tightly. She rests her head on my chest and sighs sadly but contentedly. We stand like that for a few minutes when I say, "Please keep Yuuki fed."

"I promise."

The guards knock, giving us a warning. She leans up on tiptoe and kisses my cheek.

"For luck. Come home." I hug her again and the guards come it and take her away from me, but not before I hear her say, "Remember, I-"

And I'll never hear what she wants me to remember.

And then in walks Mr. Gaebora, Zelda's father, a nice man to my knowledge. He always buys the squirrels I hunt. He's a baker, and he holds out a small package of cookies to me. "Here." He says gently, placing them in my hand. "I know you don't ever get to eat these, so I figure you can enjoy them now." He looks at me sadly, knowingly. I wonder if he'll hate me if I come back alive and his daughter doesn't. I nod and he lets me hug him. I know all along now that he had been helping me in small ways. Maybe he had even suggested before that Zelda give me bread. I just pretend to not see the bruises and scars and cuts from the hell that his wife gives him and his daughter. And the guards are coming in again and I feel like I'm clinging to him because I don't think anyone else will come in. But one more person comes in. It's Ilia.

She greets me with a warm hug and presents me with her pin.

"Each tribute is allowed a token. Wear this."

"A Loftwing?"

"No, a Chirri." I smile. Chirris are even more of a slap than the Loftwing experiments were. At least the Loftwings were made of that mysterious subspace that Tabuu controls and could be destroyed easily. Not the Chirris. They were pure, living things. They lived here in ancient times and managed to survive even now. They had managed to kill off most of the animals from the ancient world, but not the Chirris. So a pin with one of those is not only rare, but could be taken the wrong way. I accept it anyhow. Maybe it'll be attributed to a teenager with weird ideals or something, one that was crazy even before the arena. It's almost time to go, so she hugs me again and kisses my cheek too.

"I'll make sure that he's fed. Yuuki. I'll get everyone to pitch in. They all love him."

"Thank you." I hug her back, and think that maybe, all that time we never spoke at lunch, or just sat about, we were doing it because of an unspoken friendship. Then the guards come in and there's no one else to see me so I'm dragged off to a train platform. Zelda is smiling and walks back to the train without looking back. Everyone pretends to ignore the fresh slap mark on her face. I get on the train, doing my best to keep my eyes dry. My face is already red, which is bad enough. I cannot seem weak.

We board the train, and Peach directs us to our rooms. I flop onto the bed, the Chirri pin in my pocket poking me uncomfortably, but I manage to doze off to the rhythmic rocking of the train and the fluffiness of the bed.

My nightmares are filled with images of past Games, horrific ones where the tributes were blown to bits, sliced into bits, bashed into bits. Where they were filled with arrows and knives. Where they were tortured, and left pleading for death.

I'm awoken by Peach making me go out into the small sitting room on the train. We're watching the Reapings in the other Designations. I see one in the nearest designation, the E Designation, to home. A little girl is called up onstage, only 12 herself. The only one to volunteer for her is the wind. The boy is a strong, tall boy with unruly blue hair, tied back in a headband. The way he looks at the little girl, so sadly, makes me wonder if he's her older brother. I was in too much shock to hear their full names, but the looks on the crowd's faces seems to say as much. All I hear of their names are "Nana" and "Ike".

In another Designation a girl with dark skin and shockingly light hair calls to volunteer. She says her name is Tetra, and doesn't give a last name. She is from the S Designation. Another, effeminate boy with a strong build volunteers. His name is Marth.

Barely a few hours I'm a conscious tribute, and I'm already sizing up my opponents.

How very much like a pawn.


End file.
